Babar Azam rises to third spot in ICC T20I ranking

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has moved up one spot in the ICC Men's T20 player rankings, while his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan has remained in second place.

Babar moved up the batting statistics in the most recent International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings.

Since the duo will be in action during the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which begins on April 14 in Lahore, Babar, and Rizwan will have the opportunity to close the gap on India's Suryakumar Yadav, who is currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

"Babar moved up to third on the ICC's updated rankings on Wednesday and will have another chance to make inroads on Suryakumar when Pakistan begin their five-game T20I series against New Zealand on Saturday," the ICC noted.

"While Suryakumar currently leads the T20I batter rankings with 906 rating points, second-placed Rizwan (811) and third-placed Babar (755) could make gains while the India star is playing in the IPL."

"Ironically, it was Devon Conway's absence from New Zealand's series against Sri Lanka that propelled Babar to third in the latest set of rankings, with the Kiwi batter also competing in the IPL with the Chennai Super Kings."

No Pakistani player is placed in the top ten in the ICC T20I bowler rankings, with all-rounder Shadab Khan ranking 12th.

Shadab is also the only Pakistani player in the top ten of the T20I all-rounder rankings, having finished fourth.